Tours

Trances of Winery in Armenia

Are you fond of wine? Follow the wine making root of Arenivillage in VayotsDzor Province. Armenian vinery is more than 6000 years old. World's oldest vinery has been found and excavated in the Bird's cave near Areni village in 2010.

In 2013 Armenian Wine 'Muscat' produced in the Wine Factory of Armenia won the first place as the ‘World's Best Muscats' (Muscats du Monde®) in the International Wine Festival.

After breakfast and check-out, we’ll drive towards KhorVirap Monastery (4-17th c.) whose name means deep dungeon. This complex is the place where the founder of the Armenian Apostolic church, St. Gregory the Illuminator, was imprisoned 13 years for being Christian. Its location, near the closest point to Mt. Ararat within Armenian borders, offers a spectacular view of the mountain, the national symbol of Armenia.

From there we’ll drive to the VayotsDzor region, which is Armenia’s most storied wine growing region. It is here that Areni-1, the world’s oldest winery (over 6000 years old) was discovered recently in a local cave.

After we’ll head to Noravank Monastery, the pearl of Armenian medieval architecture (10th-14th centuries). Noravank is one of those unique medieval churches for the construction of which only limestone was used.

Drive to the village of Yegheghnadzor where we’ll have a leisurely lunch in the garden of a local family. We’ll try a variety of traditional home-cooked dishes and sample homemade clay-jar wine.

A little rest andwe’ll head to Zorah Winery in the village of Rind. Twelve years in development, Zorah released its first vintage in the autumn of 2012 to worldwide acclaim. Producing exclusively areni wines, Zorah’sKarasiAreni 2010 was ranked by BusinessWeek as one of the top 10 new wines in the world in 2012. The 360-degree mountain views from the Zorah Estate are thrilling and the wine is an absolute must to be experienced.

Next drive to the Region of Syunik, check in hotel in Goris city, dinner with local wine and overnight.

After breakfast at the hotel visit the Devil’s Bridge located in the deepest part of the the Canyon of the Vorotan River in the depth of 700-800 meters. The place is amazing with its wonderful natural springs that gave different colorings to the rocks around. The locals call it SatayiKamurj (Devil's Bridge) with the meaning that nature has created something unbelievable, as if it's the job of devil's hands. Continue the tour to the Tatev Monastery Complex (9th century)by driving on the all rounding road up to the top of the high cliffy mount. The monastery covers a huge territory that covers several buildings, including the Oil Press which will give you a complete imagination of what it looked like to make oil in the early medieval era. Most of the monastery complexes were educational and cultural centers and Tatev is not an exception. The monastery initially covered a school which later in the 14th century was transformed into a university with more than one thousand students living and studying there. Tatev village and the monastery were so powerful that more than forty villages were paying taxes at will that were called ‘tasanord' that was the ammount of the tax meanning ten devided to one was supposed to be given to the village and the monastery. For lunch we will go to the local traditional restaurant to taste the local dishes of the province. To cross the gorge of Vorotan river, we will take Wings of Tatev, the cable car considered the longest non-stop double track cable car in the world. Visit the Armenian Stonehenge that locals call Karahunj or ZoratsQarer. As of being an observatory site the significance of the monuments is still disputed but the fact goes with that it dates back to the sixth millennium BCE.

Drive to the Kashuni village where we will have a local organic vodka tasting. The factry has been founded recently and is equipped with all the nessesary items imported from Italy to destill what is called organic product. Dinner in the village after which we will make a bonfire under the sky full of stars accompanied with lovely guitar music. Transfer to hotel (overnight in Goris).

Day 4. Goris–Khndzoresk– Areni-Yerevan

Breakfast at the hotel, check-out and continue the tour to the Old Knhdzoresk medieval dwellings that is that is a spectacular place for hiking. Most of the caves are man-made hewn in soft rock. In the place you will find ruins of old villages, churches, tombs, springs and a new bridge that connects the gorge. Drive to the theVayotsDzor Province and lunch in the Areni village where we will stop at a local Areni wine factory to have wine tasting and to get familiar with the technics the local wine factories implement for producing the amazing wines with different fruits and flavor. We will return back to Yerevan and check-in the hotel (overnight in Yerevan).